EWRB initiative to boost energy and water efficiency in Ontario buildings
Energy and water usage can represent a significant portion of operating costs in large facilities.
With the help of Ontario’s Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) initiative, building owners and operators can make their buildings more efficient and save valuable resources.
Under the Ontario Regulation 506/18: REPORTING OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND WATER USE, commercial and residential facilities 100,000 square feet (s.f.) and larger may be required to report energy and water use by July 1, 2019.
The three main benefits to building owners of this new EWRB initiative are:
1. Operating cost reductions by tracking consumption
2. Identification of energy and water efficiency opportunities
3. Comparison against similar buildings in the Province
Studies have shown that energy usage in commercial and residential buildings can be reduced by as much as 30% by effectively monitoring consumption, thereby lowering their energy costs. In addition, by increasing conservation measures such as energy reporting for buildings over 100,000 s.f., the Province can save costs by avoiding the need to generate more energy.
In the United States, it is reported that 25 jurisdictions have building energy benchmarking requirements similar to Ontario’s EWRB initiative and these jurisdictions have reported decreases in energy use up to 10%. It has also been reported that in these same jurisdictions, after tracking usage, a majority of buildings have initiated low or no cost measures to eliminate waste and improve energy performance.
In 2020, the EWRB initiative will be fully phased in throughout the Province and will require buildings 50,000 s.f. and over to report energy and water consumption as well as greenhouse gas emission data on an annual basis.
If you own, manage or represent a building, the first step is to confirm if your building is required to report by visiting ontario.ca/energyreporting. You will also find information on how, when and what type of data is required to report for your building type.
A key enhancement of any benchmarking initiative surrounds the potential for real time granular energy data to make energy visible by breaking down energy usage and pinpointing exactly where and when energy is wasted in buildings. Using advanced low cost submetering technology combined with real time communication and cloud-based big data energy analytics, this advanced technology can provide building owners with the data they require not only to meet reporting specifications but rather to exceed requirements by providing valuable information to take corrective action to eliminate waste, reduce costs and limit their buildings’ carbon footprint.
CircuitMeter’s real time energy monitoring technology provides the data for benchmarking which enables energy management best practices and can assist building owners and operators to enhance a building’s operational efficiency.
For additional information on Ontario’s EWRB initiative, you may visit the following links:
Regulation Guidelines: Guide to energy and water reporting
EWRB Building Types: Buildings that must comply
EWRB Description: Measure energy and water use for large buildings